Tarang 7: Thisra Nadai 02/05/2012
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. In this episode, Suri explains the what is Thisra Nadai and also plays a small sample for us in the Mridangam. 'Thisra' means three and therefore when a particular tala is being played in Thisra nadai, it means that each beat has 3 matras. The most common phrase used to denote three matras is 'Tha ki ta'. There are also Other phrases like which are multiples of three and can therefore fit in to Thisra nadai. Listen to Suri's audio clips to know more……….. Suri's explanation of Thisra Nadai-Adi Tala Suri's Mridangam demonstration of Thisra Nadai - Adi Tala Hope you found this episode interesting. Do stay tuned, we will be back with another nadai soon! Add Comment Tarang 6: Adi Talam - Chathusra Nadai 01/07/2012
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. In this episode, Suri explains the most common Adi Talam - Chathusra Nadai and also plays a small sample for us in the Mridangam. Please click the links below to listen to Suri.
The most common nadai in adi tala is the chathusra nadai and hence Suri has begun his demonstrations from there. We will move on to other nadais in aid tala in the weeks to come, do stay tuned. Tarang 5: Tala Terminologies (Continued) 12/04/2011
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. Continuing our discussion on tala terminologies, this episode throws light on some of the most important terms commonly used by Laya experts and what we have always wanted to get enlightened about! I am sure all of us have heard the terms - 'Mudippu', 'Arudhi', 'Theermanam', 'Fahran', 'Mohara' and 'Korvai' before but are not fully sure about what they signify and how they differ from each other. Do check out this audio link where Suri explains each one of them elaborately. All the above mentioned terms can be generally considered as the names given for laya patterns played in various contexts during a kutcheri. Mudippu, Arudhi and Theermanam are laya patterns played during the intervals between pallavi and anupallavi or anupallavi and charanam. Depending on the length of the pattern and the place where it occurs, it is denoted by a particular name. Mudippu/Arudhi is used to denote the phrases played by the mridangam artiste during the brief vocal pause that occurs between pallavi/anupallavi/charanam where as Theermanam is the longer phrase played while a song is concluded. The terms Fahran, Mohara and Korvai are used more in the context of 'Thani Avartanam'. After playing several intricate laya patterns, when the vidwan decides to conclude his tani, he would start with a Fahran pattern, then move on to play a Mohara and then conclude by playing the Korvai three times. After the third time, the vocalist begins the neraval or the pallavi line and then goes on to conclude the item. These terms would again be discussed along with mridangam demonstration by Suri in later episodes when we take up 'Tani Avartanam'. We conclude the tala terminologies with this episode. We will move on to more tala demonstrations in the weeks to come, do stay tuned! Tarang 4: Tala Terminologies (Continued) 10/30/2011
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. Continuing on introducing the tala terminologies, Suri talks about various speeds or 'kaalam' in this episode. The commonly used speeds are first, second, third and fourth - keezh kaalam, Madhyama kaalam, Mel kaalam or Dhuritha kaalam and Athi Mel kaalam. In general, Madhyama kaalam is twice the speed of Keezh kaalam and Mel kaalam is twice the speed of Madhyama kaalam and so on… By taking the phrase, 'Tha-ka-di-na', Suri demonstrates the various speeds that Mridangam artistes commonly play in concert platforms. Listen to the demonstration of various speeds by clicking this audio link. More terms to be discussed in the coming weeks, do stay tuned! Tarang 3: Tala Terminologies 10/02/2011
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. Before we move on to discuss about each tala in detail, we must learn the various commonly terms used by Mridangam experts. In this episode Suri talks about the initial lessons given to a student when he joins the Mridangam classes. First the teacher begins lessons with small rhythmic patterns referred like 'Tha - Dhit - Thom - Num', 'Ki - Ta - Tha - Ka', 'Thaka-Thari-Kita-Thaka' and so on. These are the fundamental 'Sorkkal or Sollu' that would help the student to later on play complicated tala patterns. After this, the student learns 'Farhan' patterns which comprises long complicated sorkkal. 'Farhan', 'Uruttu Sorkkal' or 'Mel kala Sorkkal' all mean the same. Apart from this the student also learns the 'Teka Sorkkal' which begins with 'Num-Dhin'. Suri also highlights the subtle differences observed in various schools of Mridangam in teaching these lessons. Please listen to Suri's audio clip on Tala terms (click the highlighted link). More terms to be discussed in the coming weeks, do stay tuned! Tarang 2: Most Common Talas 09/04/2011
Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'. Before we further move on, lets discuss about the answers to those two questions in 'Tarang 1'. Q1- Triputa tala contains one laghu and two druthams. Mishra jaati implies a laghu containing 7 aksharas, for each dhrutham 2 aksharas, therefore the total would be 7 + 2 + 2 = 11 aksharas. Q2- Rupaka tala contains one dhrutham followed by one laghu. For dhrutham the count is always 2. If the total has to be 6, then the aksharas in laghu must be 4, which means it is chathurasra jaati rupaka tala. Hope all our rasikas have got these answers right. In case of any difficulty in answering these questions, do let us know; we would be glad to explain them to you individually. In continuation to last week's introduction to the tala system, Suri further talks about the most commonly handled talas this week. Listen to Suri's audio clips The talas that one gets to see most often are Adi, Rupakam, Khanda Chapu, Mishra Chapu, Thisra jaati triputa tala, Khanda jaati triputa tala, Mishra jaati jampa tala. There are some Varnams and Dhikshitar's kritis in not so common talas which are sometimes sung by musicians in concert platforms. Thiruppugazh is another example where we come across complicated talas. Suri would take up the demonstration of the common talas in the forth coming weeks. Do stay tuned! Tarang 1: Welcome to Laya Lahiri 08/26/2011
Shruthi and Laya are considered the most essential elements in any form of music. It is generally seen that rasikas, by repeated listening, begin to develop a good sense of appreciation of the kritis or raga alpanas rendered by the main artistes. However, the same cannot be said when it comes to appreciating the percussion instrumentalists. Audience do enjoy and sway their heads for the rhythmic patterns played by the percussionists but many do not know the technicalities of it. The appreciation of carnatic music would not be complete if one does not understand the key aspects of laya. Raga Surabhi is happy to lauch a new segment, Laya Lahari which is entirely dedicated to the fundamentals pertaining to laya. We propose to discuss the technical elements of laya through series of posts and audio demonstrations without going too much in to the complexities of it. Laya Lahari features lecture demonstrations by Mridangam Exponent, Thillaisthanam Shri R. Suriyanarayanan, a senior vidwan and an artiste with more than 20 years of experience in concert platforms. Raga Surabhi is delighted to launch this exclusive laya segment, which is probably the first of its kind, with such an expert percussionist and is thankful to Shri R. Suriyanarayanan, who graciously accepted to work with us and spend several hours in recording various episodes amidst his tight concert schedule. To know more about Shri Suri and to listen to sample Laya Lahiri Mridangam Audio Clip visit the About Laya Lahiri page. Tala, in carnatic music, is a rhythmic cycle of beats which mainly helps to maintain the tempo of any rendition. Each tala has a fixed number of beats called aksharas and each repeated cycle is called an avartanam. Tala does not have a fixed tempo and the same tala can be played at different speeds. The most commonly accepted tala system categorizes talas into seven families, each of which can incorporate one of the five jaatis, thus allowing thirty-five possible talas. These thirty-five talas when combining with five gatis become one hundred and seventy five talas. Right now, lets us just proceed further without bothering about what is meant by jaati and gati, we will talk about them a little later. Tala is represented by a specific hand gesture and a tala is composed of various components or angaas. The important ones are described below:
Listen to Suri's lucid explanations about seven tala families in tamil. For non-tamil audiences, the gist of the same content is provided below The seven Tala families are represented below with their anga notation
If you have understood the concept, try answering these questions: What is the total number of aksharas in mishra jaati triputa tala? What is the jaati of rupaka tala if the total aksharas is 6? Will come back to you with the answers in the next post, until then happy counting!! | Laya LahiriA series of blog posts, or Tarangs, dedicated to the fundamentals pertaining of Laya ArchivesFebruary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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